Going round (most of) the world

[travelnoodle2016]

Turn it down for Wat?!

It’s been a long time but finally, sitting in Dubai I began this post with a keyboard. That is to say the use of Chris’ Dad’s laptop. I didn’t complete the post before we left and so this comes as we now have our own keyboard (for job hunting…) in Melbourne. Time to get a blog on!

Now we arrive at our main motivation for visiting Cambodia; Siam Reap and the mighty Angkor. Angkor itself is the city which houses over 1000 temples, Angkor Wat is the largest temple within this UNESCO World Heritage Site and said to be the largest religious monument ever built.

We booked ourselves a sunrise tour with a private driver/guide/professional smart phone photographer and whilst pricey, was without doubt the best way around the site if you have just one day and quite a few want to see places. You also need a registered guide to be allowed to go inside with you, and the heat of the day meant a tuk tuk would provide very little relief. Our guide named Jet was very easy going and drove us between temples as well as guiding us round them, embellishing their physical beauty with lots of historic and interesting tales. We were collected at 4:45am and driven to the site tollbooth to purchase our day passes - these beauties win the prize for least flattering photo at this time in the morning! Disorientated by the chatter of others close around us in the dark, we were taken through the temple entrance to find our waiting spot.

Our day truly began in front of the famous Angkor Wat; crouching, standing or sitting on Chris’ shoes, around the well trodden edges of a small murky lake. We were waiting for the sun to begin to rise, accompanied by singing insects screeching out into the thick darkness. Having arrived early we scored a spot right at the front of the water. Only as the dawn began to break did we realise quite how many people shared our experience with us. The peaks of the temple began to outline against the pastel sky, which both the moon and the sun would soon share. Cameras clicked as each photo revealed a bettering image of a more detailed temple set against a more vivid sky with the passing of time. Once satisfied that it was properly light we returned to our pre selected table for our breakfast boxes, neatly set back from the water with a view of the action. Once the sun topped Angkor Wat, Jet rejoined us for our tour inside.

The story lined stone corridors, courtyards and chambers told tales of both the country’s and temple’s past. Evidence of machine gun rounds or the many defaced images of Buddha chiselled reminders of more unrestful times.

We visited 5 temples during our trip; Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Promh, Bayon and another smaller ruined temple yet to be restored. This last temple, so peaceful as few drivers ventured down its path, we cannot remember the name of, nor find it on any map. As China’s temple fatigue returned we sat here and listened to stories of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge atop large piles of stones in the shade.

The beaming faces of Bayon, witnessing the lost battle of temple vs jungle in Tomb Raider’s Ta Promh and the vast scale and detail of Angkor Wat all add to the physical memories of our visit. However, it was the teachings of our guide such as Angkor Wat’s transformation from Hindu to Buddhist or the unusual hand positions of the beautiful apsara dancers and Ta Promh’s unexplained stegosaurus or the stone face framed by a chance tree root, that delighted us and have come away in our stories.

Our day here was so rich in the country’s culture, full of meaning and awe inspiring sights, we’re happy to have allowed Angkor to dictate our travel within Cambodia. This is one of the few places you can still visit and get what the brochure promised.

[travelnoodle2016]

Phnom Penh <\b><\p>

This bustling city with a balance between backpackers and holiday makers leaning slightly more towards the former, made for a nicely convenient stay in a fancy hotel with still plenty of Khmer (Cambodian) life to observe and become immersed in. As you walk the smaller pavement-less streets away from the riverfront restaurants, you witness men sleeping in hammocks under trees or strung up in their tuk tuks as they sleep through the afternoon sun. Men squat in the shade as they gamble with cards, fluttering Cambodian riel and US dollars. The dollar is used here probably more so than the local riel. As no US coins are used, this is what keeps riel in circulation, particularly for foreigners as very little we buy costs less than a dollar. You can pay everywhere in riel, at a rate of around 4000 riel to 1 dollar. You can also withdraw both at atms. <\p>

We didn't venture across the entire city – we were staying in our first fancy hotel with a pool – but the streets surrounding ‘home’ became well known and were busy with local life; roadhouse restaurants, street vendors and seas of scooter parking spaces. As any town or city, the riverside comes alive at dusk when the sun relents and joggers and crowds of aerobic ladies join strolling couples, elderly doggy companions and snack food street vendors. Dried fish, unidentifiable fruit and drinks in boxes of melted ice are lazily wheeled along, giving way to the clumps of people gathering to talk, eat or play games. There are hundreds of restaurants to take your pick from along this stretch, all demanding higher prices for the location yet still cheap to most westerners. A poignant presence was the number of beautiful young girls accompanied by much older western men. Without judgement, many unlikely couples exchange companionship, some more forward than others but nothing untoward seems to be going on outside. Notices in hotels and bars alert you to the ongoing issues in Cambodia of the trafficking of underage girls and warn you of the laws against it. Hotel allowances of guests above 18 providing ID however, subtly permit prostitutes and escorts as per Cambodian law. Seemingly things are improving for workers of this industry, providing more awareness and protection for vulnerable women, but it's an industry nonetheless which still operates keenly in the public eye. <\p>

It goes without saying that Phnom Penh is the keenest city when it come to tuk-tuks; here they are small, comfortable (ie you travel forwards on a cushioned seat) and have decent bar and net structures to keep you and your luggage in. Every driver will call 'tuk-tuk!' as you pass or stop immediately in front of you as you try to cross the road, which can be difficult enough, but when you do want to get somewhere you're never stuck and after bargaining, these guys can take you to any of the sights around. We were carted round for half a day to the Killing Fields and S-21 by one guy for $20 – we know now that was the higher end of the price scale but what is $20 for a comfortable half day and a guy to earn a decent fare? <\p>

During our time in Phnom Penh we were able to educate ourselves on the country's more recent history which still runs deep in the veins of Khmer generations today. The Cambodian Genocide undertaken by the Khmer Rouge in the mid to late seventies, is brought respectfully yet realistically to life at the sites of Choeung Ek, one of the many Killing Fields of Cambodia and the Tuol Sleng Prison (S-21) in the city. Audio guides narrated by a survivor of the events allow you the time and pace to experience these places and their now horrific past in your own time, creating a heartbreaking personal experience. At the fields, shocking accounts of the torture, degradation of humanity and death of as many as 3 million Khmer people are evidenced by the tufts of clothing and bone still surfacing in the dirt from where they lay in their masses. Holding and interrogation cells stand still furnished with shackles, photographs of the dead as they were found after torture and the grief of those who passed through S-21 still remain. You are reminded that you are visiting this former high school with the luxury of daylight, fresh air and of course your freedom. Generations are lost from families in Cambodia and the loss is so felt. Our tour guide in Siem Reap was happy to share the story of how his family suffered during the regime. Meeting those with a story to tell first hand is not something our generation from the UK comes across often, it highlights the recency and importance of remembering what happened here so that it cannot be repeated. <\p>

After a heavy day of history we took to one of PP’s lighter and more colourful sights, the Royal Palace. It took us a couple of attempts as the palace closes for a couple of hours in the afternoon but we returned well prepared for their very strict dress code – t-shirts and long trousers, no shawls or scarves for shoulders ladies! Lovely gardens, temples and the Silver Pagoda housing an emerald Buddha were the order of the day. Much of the palace was similar to what we'd seen on our way to Cambodia but featured a Khmer flair and was presented in a grand complex to add enough variety. The rest of our time we lazily spent by our pool and arranged our whistle stop tour of Angkor and some of its many temples. Luckily for such a short stay in Siem Reap the flights were reasonable enough to avoid another bus journey and we were happily taxied and tuk tuked to and from each airport by our accommodation #glampackers. <\p>

Next stop: Siem Reap - 3rd - 5th March

[travelnoodle2016]

Border Crossing by Boat<\b><\p>

To briefly go over how we got from Hanoi to Phnom Penh:<\p>

We took a cheeky flight from Hanoi down to Can Tho, it only took around 2 hours but the bus option just wasn’t something we wanted to entertain. Plus, the flight was the best option for convincing Chris it was worth the 2 city detour through the delta to reach Cambodia. Here we asked our hotel to call the number of a bus company I’d read up on – Phuong Trang/Futa Bus. They go to lots of cities up and down Vietnam for reasonable prices and are well known by tourists for their big orange coaches. We booked a bus time and were given numbered seats. They picked us up from our hotel in a minibus for free and dropped us off at their bus station and ticket office, no worries about being led astray by touts! This journey ended at Chau Doc bus station which wasn't very well served by taxis so we decided to walk the 30 min by Google guesstimate, which most people know is longer than it usually takes an average person to walk, to reach our hotel (I’ll write another post covering some cool Google map tricks and other travel favourites shortly). There were cyclos here willing to take you into town but we were so concerned that anyone would/could ride on one of these small town takes on the transport - latched on to the back of a bicycle, a shallow trailer narrower than two people bounced around, usually carrying boxes or some sort of stock. Not understating how a person would safely ride atop the trailer, we never really saw people riding on them anywhere, the same ‘which way to face on a squat toilet’ doubt totally deferred any thought of it. We were in Chau Doc to stay just one night so we could take the 7am boat the next morning to Phnom Penh. We booked this trip with Hang Chau tourist, reserving our place via email. The cost was $25 plus $34 for the privilege of having the boat guys take care of your visa for you (visas cost $30 anyway so the service is $4pp and is optional though they do expect you to pay it). There was diddly squat in the town near our hotel so we had a quick people watch and scavenged our dinner from a bakery stall, going to bed quite excited for our assisted adventure the next day. The free transfer to the pier in the morning was by, you guessed it, cyclo. Luckily we saw one go past in the morning and clambered in opposite our rucksacks, trying our best to imitate without toppling the trailer. We only had 10 minutes or so to bump along the road, vulnerable and completely entwined side by side. It’s amazing the filter you can put on health and safety in Asia, ending yourself with laughter at how completely ridiculous something is as a mode of transport, taking off 5 inches from your seat as a minibus navigates local roads. In Scotland I can imagine my own raging face now as I’d refuse to get in a taxi without a seat belt!<\p>

We had a short wait as we were all poised to push (in an orderly and dignified manner...) to get a cushioned seat inside the boat rather than be relegated to the hard benches on the back deck. Having learnt the art of shoving in China, we got a squashy seat and left on time. The term speedboat was justified for this trip and we tore through the river towards our first checkpoint in just over 2 hours, the Vietnamese border to exit the country. We all hopped off the boat and followed the man with all our passports bundled into a canvas bag as we climbed up into the border control building. No one needed to verify we were actually the people in our passports and we were left to enjoy ourselves, having a coffee, sitting out on the river balcony or exchanging our last bit of Vietnamese Dong for Cambodian Riel, as we did. Back on the boat we journeyed through limbo, having exited one but not yet entered another country. We came to stop again less than 5 minutes along the river to officially enter Cambodia. These exit/entry points now knowingly represent the laid back cultures of either country, mostly so for Cambodia. A long wooden table under a small hand built roof, koi pond, lazy dogs and shrines adorned the courtyard of this official government checkpoint. We had to take our own passports for stamping to a small building with windows and computers but the whole event was still so relaxed. We each took a few photos then returned to our vessel for the last leg into Phnom Penh, completing our 5 hour journey. It is worth saying you're given a bottle of water and snack bag on board too - as well as being a nice touch, the bananas win the prize for tiniest ban

Border Crossing by Boat<\b><\p>

To briefly go over how we got from Hanoi to Phnom Penh:<\p>

We took a cheeky flight from Hanoi down to Can Tho, it only took around 2 hours but the bus option just wasn’t something we wanted to entertain. Plus, the flight was the best option for convincing Chris it was worth the 2 city detour through the delta to reach Cambodia. Here we asked our hotel to call the number of a bus company I’d read up on – Phuong Trang/Futa Bus. They go to lots of cities up and down Vietnam for reasonable prices and are well known by tourists for their big orange coaches. We booked a bus time and were given numbered seats. They picked us up from our hotel in a minibus for free and dropped us off at their bus station and ticket office, no worries about being led astray by touts! This journey ended at Chau Doc bus station which wasn't very well served by taxis so we decided to walk the 30 min by Google guesstimate, which most people know is longer than it usually takes an average person to walk, to reach our hotel (I’ll write another post covering some cool Google map tricks and other travel favourites shortly). There were cyclos here willing to take you into town but we were so concerned that anyone would/could ride on one of these small town takes on the transport - latched on to the back of a bicycle, a shallow trailer narrower than two people bounced around, usually carrying boxes or some sort of stock. Not understating how a person would safely ride atop the trailer, we never really saw people riding on them anywhere, the same ‘which way to face on a squat toilet’ doubt totally deferred any thought of it. We were in Chau Doc to stay just one night so we could take the 7am boat the next morning to Phnom Penh. We booked this trip with Hang Chau tourist, reserving our place via email. The cost was $25 plus $34 for the privilege of having the boat guys take care of your visa for you (visas cost $30 anyway so the service is $4pp and is optional though they do expect you to pay it). There was diddly squat in the town near our hotel so we had a quick people watch and scavenged our dinner from a bakery stall, going to bed quite excited for our assisted adventure the next day. The free transfer to the pier in the morning was by, you guessed it, cyclo. Luckily we saw one go past in the morning and clambered in opposite our rucksacks, trying our best to imitate without toppling the trailer. We only had 10 minutes or so to bump along the road, vulnerable and completely entwined side by side. It’s amazing the filter you can put on health and safety in Asia, ending yourself with laughter at how completely ridiculous something is as a mode of transport, taking off 5 inches from your seat as a minibus navigates local roads. In Scotland I can imagine my own raging face now as I’d refuse to get in a taxi without a seat belt!<\p>

We had a short wait as we were all poised to push (in an orderly and dignified manner...) to get a cushioned seat inside the boat rather than be relegated to the hard benches on the back deck. Having learnt the art of shoving in China, we got a squashy seat and left on time. The term speedboat was justified for this trip and we tore through the river towards our first checkpoint in just over 2 hours, the Vietnamese border to exit the country. We all hopped off the boat and followed the man with all our passports bundled into a canvas bag as we climbed up into the border control building. No one needed to verify we were actually the people in our passports and we were left to enjoy ourselves, having a coffee, sitting out on the river balcony or exchanging our last bit of Vietnamese Dong for Cambodian Riel, as we did. Back on the boat we journeyed through limbo, having exited one but not yet entered another country. We came to stop again less than 5 minutes along the river to officially enter Cambodia. These exit/entry points now knowingly represent the laid back cultures of either country, mostly so for Cambodia. A long wooden table under a small hand built roof, koi pond, lazy dogs and shrines swarming with bee hives adorned the courtyard of this official government checkpoint. We had to take our own passports for stamping to a small building with windows and computers but the whole event was still so relaxed. We each took a few photos then returned to our vessel for the last leg into Phnom Penh, completing our 5 hour journey. It is worth saying you're given a bottle of water and snack bag on board too - as well as being a nice touch, the bananas win the prize for tiniest bananas ever witnessed! We’d seen some dinky ones on our travels but as Chris demonstrates, these were an epic 2 inches long! We were given 2 each...

On arrival at Phnom Penh it was as simple as off you hop towards the awaiting taxi drivers; ever your total besty and every single one knowing someone living in Scotland. Politely we (and by that I mean Chris as I was sweaty and grumpy) fended them off and successfully navigated the numbered grid like streets with the tourist map screen shot on my phone. An adventurously self sufficient win for team Noodle! <\p>

Next stop: Phnom Penh - 29th February - 3rd March

[travelnoodle2016]

Water hyacinths drifting down the Mekong River. #mekongdelta #mekongriver #aquaticplants #cantho #vietnam #rtw #travel #instatravel #travelnoodles

[travelnoodle2016]

Cruising past Mekong villages on the river's delta. An early start to an amazing day! #mekongdelta #mekongriver #vietnam #cairang #rtw #instatravel #travel #travelnoodles

[travelnoodle2016]

After Cat Ba island we made our way south to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, through 2 cities of the Mekong Delta - Can Tho and Chau Doc. From Can Tho we spent the morning cruising the Delta’s canals in a tiny wooden boat, visiting Cai Rang floating market. To advertise, sellers hang a sample of their stock from a pole on deck. #mekongdelta #mekongriver #vietnam #cairang #floatingmarket #rtw #instatravel #travelnoodles

[travelnoodle2016]

A junk boat on the horizon at Halong Bay #halongbay #vietnam #UNESCO #rtw #instatravel #travelnoodles

[travelnoodle2016]

Row row row your boat, gently with your feet. Saw lots of this in Halong Bay. All over SE Asia people row their boats by pushing the oars away rather than pulling them in. #halongbay #fishing #rowing #vietnam #rtw #instatravel #travelnoodles

[travelnoodle2016]

Cat Ba Island – Home to Halong Bay <\b><\p>

Like many it seems, Halong Bay was my main motivation for visiting Vietnam. As we read up on reviews of day trips and overnight tours to the bay, it became apparent that Halong was simply one of many equally beautiful bays - perhaps with more plastic marine life, but still the best to swap your junk boat for a kayak and take a diy deek at some of the caves and an isolated lagoon. Having learned this we decided on a day trip instead of staying on-board overnight and that said trip leaving from Cat Ba island, many a tourist’s favourite stop away from Hanoi, would be the most enjoyable. We booked our 5 hour minibus-bus-bus-boat-bus return transport through our hotel in the city (return trip can be booked at the other end) and took ourselves off for 4 nights. <\p>

Our minibus picked us up just after the latest collection time we were given for our one hour time slot, despite being the first ones on, and proceeded to collect fellow backpackers until it was full. Everyone nervously asked everyone else if they were also going to Cat Ba as there was no further guidance at this point. Reassuringly we were all in this together, intrepid explorers secretly crapping their pants at being at the mercy of the driver and having zero idea about a non-existent travel itinerary – yay backpacking! We transferred to a coach at a bus station, being half-heartedly pointed in the right direction. I chanced a quick trip to the bathroom before we left as there was no knowing when we'd be able to go again. This caused me such pee shy western amusement I just have to share. I paid the 3,000 (10p) for the pleasure and followed another lady in. Her face – horror, panic and mild embarrassment said it all. We were faced with the stuff of travel legends and bathroom horror stories - open room squat toilets...without a hole in the ground. ‘Which way am I actually supposed to face?!’ This thought is something I was never 100% sure of in the privacy of a cubicle nevermind when considering the etiquette of simply going on the floor. I elected to face the wall, this would save seeing anyone else's face or them mine – the shame! I couldn't go until the other lady left. Oh and FYI, you're supposed to face the other way... Back to buses! We had a very enthusiastic guide/promoter for the Full Moon Party Hotel on the island who happily explained the rest of our trip and how to book the return through the hotel as well as any tours we liked from the leaflet provided – much better! After 90 mins or so we all got off the bus and onto another identical vehicle. There was less taxi touting going on at this point than expected which was pretty pleasant. Another two hours here to get to the boat landing. We did stop to fill up seats and the aisle (small plastic stools provided) with locals, it was a pretty cramped but short enough journey. At what you might stretch to call the port there was a small stand selling food and drinks as well as a toilet surrounded by lots of puppies. Motorbikes first (always the rule here) then foot passengers. The 20 or so inside seats were instantly taken by Vietnamese while we travellers sat on rucksacks, aforementioned plastic stools or the floor of the outside half of the boat – remember it’s a damp and windy 10-14°C here! The boat was fairly smooth and took around 40 mins. Take the same time again on one last bus and you arrive on the waterfront of Cat Ba town.<\p>

Cat Ba town in low season felt like an old English seaside resort, long forgotten in favour of Spanish package holidays. The promenade was kept nice with palm trees and lights at night leading up to the pier. Restaurants, hotels and hostels adorned the front of the island with cheap rates and menus. Everything was in place, there were just so few tourists. We arranged our Halong Bay day trip and a day of guided trekking in the National Park with the Full Moon Party Hotel, their staff were super enthusiastic and had good English. We found many staff members in restaurants to be the same which was really nice – give green mango a shot!

Luckily we had organised our trips on the best days according to the weather. Our trip to Halong Bay started out chilly but hopeful on top deck along with the 10 or so other tourists. When booking a tour you're sold a spot on one of the number of boats going out so you get to meet other folk. We headed out past the floating fish farms, each one guarded by a sleeping dog, to our first stop - Monkey Island. We were sent properly climbing up a sharp rock for the view. To be honest it wasn't much different to the view from the beach as everything is so spread out. We suspected it may be to help divert our attention from the fact that the island is seemingly named after one singular monkey. Chris and the rest of the blokes from the boat made it to the top, where he met our first Scotsman of our trip – 5 weeks in!<\p>

We tootled along the coast and between islets, blissfully disorientated about where we were, other than headed for Halong Bay. The bay and surrounding jungle clad cliffs were gorgeous. We paddled our 2-man kayaks, following our suited-up tour guide with some comedic pairings including a young lad and a large much older French solo traveller – who subsequently refused to paddle - until it was time for lunch and the snorkelling and sunbathing part of the tour. Only 2 people from our boat were brave enough to get in the water and claim the small mound of beach with stick drawings of their country’s flags. Needless to say they felt awkward enough with us all watching them as the main entertainment from the deck, that was before the heavy petting by a speedo sporting French family began, after arriving on what was declared to be more of a floating kitchen than a boat by our on board Canadian. We woke our captain up and asked to head back in the faint afternoon sun for some drinks with our new found boat friends.<\p>

The night was moderately tame as we had planned our 15km National Park trek for the next day, leaving at 7.30am. Being put on the public bus with a number of other tourists and locals, it wasn't apparent who our tour guide was until he told 8 of us it was time to disembark. The trail we followed is marked on some tourist maps though after a time the obvious footpaths come and go, interrupted by steep sharp climbs up piles of loose rocks and unmapped routes disappear off occasionally at the site of a not-always-helpful sign. That said, it was well worth the $19 per person to be safely guided and reassured that we were walking, climbing and going ‘down on your arse’ – thank you Chris - in the right direction. The jungle itself was dense with tangled Tarzan vines and gave way to lush tall grassy openings from time to time, allowing you a glance at the peak of surrounding hills and a chance of orientation. The occasional thwap in the face from a ginormous wet banana leaf was also pretty refreshing! After 5 or 6 thigh burning ups, we had a long lathered breather before slipping and skittering down the other side of the hill. This section was made pretty hairy by some seriously sharp rocks and sheer drops. Our shaky legs stumbled us back to flat land and on we trooped to a tiny local village for an especially tasty homemade lunch of potato stew, stir fried veg, fried rice and peanuts and of course our favourite staple, sticky rice. We sat and chatted here until we stiffened up. A veterinary assistant among our group stopped to dislodge a bone from a very sad looking cat’s mouth and we all headed off towards our return boat with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Our final day on Cat Ba had planned for a quick visit to the nearby Hospital Cave, used by the Vietnamese during US bombing as its name suggests and also as a hideout. Local buses on the island are a bit temperamental and being out of season there are fewer taxis about to fall back on. With the rain falling we decided on a heated air con and Netflix day instead. Just as well as Chris shortly realised he had food poisoning and was quite ill for the rest of the afternoon and well into the night. Much nursing and delaying our return transport to Hanoi til the afternoon, he hung on to his insides with dignity to get back to the city. We travelled back a slightly more stressful public bus-boat-bus-very very angry free taxi driver definitely not a tout but we had no way of knowing-bus from a random station-get your own taxi to your hotel. Again the taxi and public scheduled coach we got on the way back was due to low season as there were only 3 of us traveling with the combined ticket, obviously not worth putting on an entire bus, at least we had a friend to hold hands with! <\p> Our trip to Cat Ba was a proper little adventure to see and do Halong Bay our own way. While not quite off the beaten track, it is definitely an alternative destination from Hanoi. Transport there was easy enough to facilitate our adventuring and prices on the island were very competitive. It was a great place to explore even in low season, I can only imagine how idyllic it must be in the summer sun!<\p>

[travelnoodle2016]

From hot to Hanoi

Arriving into Hanoi airport at 14°C from roasty toasty LPB was a weird feeling. Weren’t we in exotic Southeast Asia? Apparently not south enough! Hanoi was another busy one and Vietnam’s willingness yet at the same time, complete reluctance to share the roads and pavements with any excuse of a vehicle as well as pedestrians, added a whole new element of fun. We stayed in the old quarter of Hanoi which was extremely popular with backpackers and had a comfortable level of touristic provisions mixed with authentic Vietnamese charm. Here streets housed specialised shops selling hundreds of the same thing, after just a few steps you’d realise you were on the ‘shoe street’, ‘flower street’ or ‘spa street’ and even those standing on the street to invite you in or call random prices to you did it in a friendly way and without hassling. North Face ‘outlet’ stores are everywhere here and a traveller’s dream if you find the right quality at the right price. It’s difficult to decipher what could be factory seconds (well made and sturdy gear with identical branded labels) or sneakily shoddy pure rip off goods (usually easy to spot with some inspection and picking at the stitching and labels) so you have to be sure to go over everything thoroughly. If only we weren’t at capacity in our backpacks… so we just bought a shiny new packable one instead – problem solved! It did require a two day haggling stand off with one shop but catching a different shopkeeper happy to take a lower price won us our prize at just 150,000 (less than a fiver).

We technically visited Hanoi twice. Once arriving in from Laos for two nights before deciding on a 4 night trip to Cat Ba island, then a further two nights on our return to fly on to our next decided destination. For easy reading this post will cover both stops in Hanoi with a separate post for Cat Ba island.

The first visit - Avoiding temples in Laos gave us the capacity to visit Ngoc Son Temple, sitting in Hoan Kiem Lake across a very pretty red bridge, the main focal point for the old quarter. In the same day we also took in the traditional Vietnamese showing of Deadpool at the cinema before scouting across the city on foot to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam and a beautiful and relatively modest temple to Confucius and his disciples. Back by the lake now, we went to the Thang Long water puppet theatre with our pre-bought tickets. Best to get tickets at least by visiting on the morning of your intended showing, if not sooner as they book up with tour groups – a seat as close to the front is what you want to avoid those taking hundreds of photos of something they were too busy taking hundreds of photos to even see, and to maintain the floating puppet illusion. The show was lovely, tickets for 100,000vnd, skilful puppetry and live traditional music and singing - I was surprised to find the music so familiar having never been aware of it as Vietnamese before. There’s a small programme for the 1 hour show explaining anything that needs more than just your eyes to fully appreciate. The art itself comes from farmers creating little skits in flooded rice fields for entertainment, small pyrotechnics for the dragons being a more recent addition.

Hanoi Reloaded

We were back later than expected on our return to Hanoi so indulged in some fast food and a bit of solo time; me checking out the mazes of little shops and Chris catching up on his TV shows while I was off the WiFi network. The following day saw us cosied up to a Starbucks for some comfort after realising we’d seen the only English spoken film showing – Zootopia will have to wait. I got myself a gel manicure (£6 ladies!) and did some further window shopping while Chris chilled out at the hotel (recovering, but that’s a story for Cat Ba). The rest of our day happily revolved around mealtimes and finished up with one last lap of the lake.

Food in Hanoi is very diverse with lots of western comfort food and fast food chains around, as well as plenty of local noodley options and street vendors with donut kebab type things, fruit and bahn mai (super soft baguette lookalikes). If you’re a beer drinker there are happy times to be had here with lots of nice bars. There were no seedy clubs or nasty drinks promotions that we saw about, then again, we didn’t go looking. The same walk through the streets in this city through the day and through the evening can be very different and often much prettier after dark. We saw a small square where rollerskates were available to hire, behind which a small pagoda had been taken over for break dancing practice and a quiet green area was filled with relaxing music as a group of men sat and meditated on the ground. Hanoi is a great place to explore on foot, get yourself a good map (our first hotel, Olive Hanoi Hotel, had the best we found with names on even the smallest of streets. They sell tours and are super helpful), street signage is pretty good but addresses are on all shop fronts if not which makes navigating nice and easy. For further destinations in Vietnam, Hanoi is a brilliant hub for both air and bus travel, just be sure to research any buses and reputable companies well and don’t feel cheated to book through your hotel or an agent as you might find their prices hard to beat and DIY travel here a lot of effort to do safely. Check out the original Sinh Tours company for well recommended services.

Thanks Hanoi, it’s been great getting to hang out with you. On we fly to Can Tho to discover the Mekong Delta’s floating markets and warmer climate!

Next stop: Cambodia - 1st-5th March<\b><\p>

[travelnoodle2016]

Even with a filter there ain't no denying the pale repercussions of sunstroke #kuangsiwaterfall #sickieselfie #luangprabang #rtw #instatravel #travelnoodles

[travelnoodle2016]

Walking up the garden path at our waterfall guesthouse #luangprabang #kuangsiwaterfall #instatravel #travelnoodles (at Kuang Si Waterfall)

[travelnoodle2016]

Luang Prabang

We arrived at the last former residence of the Lao royal family, and spent our first night in the town in a literal palace (The Victoria Xieng Thong Palace – Heh). Located right on the edge of the Mekong river we were perfectly situated for riverside strolling and spoiled for choice for dinner. Chris got his tan on while I went and got crawled on by a small child in the guise of a ‘massage’, the less said about that the better… The daily night market of LPB was lovely and added to the array shops on the main street selling colourful scarves, jewellery and bags. Tens of stalls were manned by mothers, daughters and sisters and the relaxed atmosphere was like no other in Asia. There was no touting or pushy sales, just prices and helpful information on request.

The following day we shared a tuk tuk with 3 hilarious South Korean guys to take us up to a simple guesthouse located on the river right after Kuang Si Waterfall, Vanvisa at the falls. The romantic little image which justified paying much more than any guesthouse on the main street in town was grim at best and basic beyond words. Couple that with some horrendous sunstroke and you’re off after one night. We were the first in to the waterfall park the next morning at 8am so enjoyed some peace and quiet there as well as all the photo opportunities we wanted. Inside the park is a lovely moon bear sanctuary where lots of rescue bears are kept in lovely big enclosures with plenty of climbing frames and toys. We watched them playing out at breakfast time before I just about turned see-through. There is a butterfly park nearby which I was genuinely sad to miss due to being so sick but we did see one enormous pink butterfly close by which just had to do instead. We sharply jumped in a tuk tuk with another group of travellers and headed back to town. Then I caught a stomach bug and spent another 2 days in bed/the bathroom. Here Chris can tell you a little more about his man-ventures between bouts of nursing me with Gatorade.

'I walked up Phousie Hill, worth the hike and chatted to a guy from Leeds for 2 hours until I started burning. Then I went back to take care of Kate some more before heading out to a little village across the river via a bamboo bridge – you pay a small fee to cross which goes towards year round maintenance by the husband and wife who hand-built it.'

Waking up at all hours with a sad tummy did mean I was wide awake early enough one morning to take a peek at the daily alms giving ceremony. Monks file silently through the streets of LPB from surrounding temples from around 6am to collect offerings of sticky rice and other foods from local people of Buddhist faith. Temple drums can be heard if you stay close enough to any of the Buddhist temples. I made sure to be covered up appropriately, not difficult as it was pretty chilly at that time, and headed for the central part of the main street. Sadly the whole affair has become a total circus. Constant chatter in place of the respectful silence requested, flash photography and tourist obstacles disrupting the route of the monks detracted from the entire practice. A practice in itself now overrun with more tourists than Buddhist locals offering food, much of which is wrapped cereal bars or sweets which are instantly discarded into baskets for the local children. I quickly retreated along the street to our guesthouse and sat a small distance from a Lao lady preparing to give alms, she kindly allowed me to take some photos of her while she prepared for a handful of the monks to pass by. A much more genuine experience of the rituals, even this was short lived as tourists whom had been passed by the monks noisily trawled the street, pointing and taking photos up close of the praying lady on their way home. An eye opening experience into the damage tourism can do and a tiny flicker of Buddhist ritual, it leaves me hoping that something is done soon to protect this special procession and remove snap happy tourists from behind their disingenuous rice baskets.

On a happier note, the local Bouaphan Pharmacy is a great stop for any troubles, speaking both English and French!

Next stop: Vietnam - 18th February - 1st March

[travelnoodle2016]

Lovely, lazy Laos – Vientiane <\b><\p>

Note: the frequency of posting is not the actual rate of travel, though Chris’ audio book ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ can lead to some bizarre ideas about hyper air space travel when drifting off aboard a 737. Having had a word with myself it’s now time to catch up on the blogging. I got over the ‘hand in date’ of China and reckon writing will be much easier if it's not put off, turning it from fun into a to do list of places we've visited. It’s also raining... <\p>

Vientiane is a nice easy one to write as we did sod all! We booked a lovely boutique guesthouse with a pool just out of town and sat in the sun and moved only during the day to buy the Scotsman some hat related UV protection, at mealtimes and to make our single trip to Buddha Park. Oh yeah, Chris also got his first travel hair cut – success! <\p>

The city of Vientiane was nice enough. Still pretty polluted but nothing in comparison to what we'd been breathing in China! There were lots of other travellers there so we felt pretty at home right away and at ease a little that other people were also choosing to go to the same places as us, some confirmation that we were ‘doing it right’. Finally having the heat and sun we came for was bliss and we resolved to chill out for a bit here. We walked along the promenade of the Mekong river to the busy night market. Mostly aimed at tourists or selling clothes, we made our visit functional, bought what we needed and scarpered. The next day I had transformed into what Chris described as a ‘proper traveller’, in that I looked exactly the same as everyone else, wearing loose cotton elephant print trousers. <\p>

Next we adventured out to Buddha Park. A trippy but lovely small park filled with tens of unusual concrete Buddha statues. It's about 20km out of the city so you need to hey a public bus there. Head to the central bus station by the morning market. If you walk with the international ticket office and the main stands at the station to your left and the road to your right, keep passing the buses until you see a road to your right with lots of buses parked up. This is where you get the number 14 bus to Buddha Park. It costs 8,000 kip one way, takes about an hour and you'll know where to get off. The park is on your right and has a sign right outside, if you can’t see the statues already. You pay a conductor when you get on who will watch out for you a bit. It's a short distance from the Friendship bridge where you wait a while for local arrivals. Buses depart very frequently so just go when you're ready, the park closes at 4pm. <\p>

We had some lovely food in Vientiane and enjoyed reconnecting with all the forbidden Google and Facebook related apps from our lovely comfy hotel - and Luang Prabang was meant to be even better, happy days!

[travelnoodle2016]

He won eventually. #panda #giantpanda #Chengdu #China #bamboo #wrestling #winnerwinnerbamboodinner

[travelnoodle2016]

Silly panda. #redpanda #panda #Chengdu #China #whichwayisdown #agile

[travelnoodle2016]

Chengdu – Peace, quiet and pandas!

Our third and final stop in China. We made it to the safe haven of a friend’s apartment for four much more relaxing days, being taken to the sights and peer reviewed restaurants. We arrived in the cleanest and most metropolitan Chinese city yet the day before CNY’s eve = ghost town. Because of this anomaly we were left to explore Chengdu like a playground. Walking along the riverside to a lovely park, exploring the many pristine malls and some well needed western food. Many of the local shops and restaurants were closed for the festival leaving the biggest and most western ones to cater to the shrunken population left in the city.

We celebrated CNY with a table full of Szechuan dishes, shared by our host and some of her colleagues – a table screaming Westerners over here please as the seven of us (the only non chinese people in the restaurant) mused at the slightest of cultural differences. After dinner we visited a public park for a light display of imperial installations and monkey depictions all underlined with an endless amount of Instagram worthy lanterns. The atmosphere was fun and still relatively quiet as the traditional way to celebrate new year is by being with family at home, eating together and watching the marathon 4 hour CNY variety show. Needless to say it is hard to experience a truly traditional CNY’S eve without family and a TV.

Pandas! The panda breeding and research base was the highlight of Chengdu. Giant and red pandas galore, no fully booked time slots to see sleeping bears here. These guys were ace, particularly as we arrived at breakfast time. We might have also had some apple which the little red guys quite liked (yes yes we know, sorry!). Nothing more needs said beyond the pictures and videos.

Before we could actually leave Chinese soil, we’d made a booking from the UK for an 18 hour sleeper train from Chengdu to Kunming, where we would then fly in to Laos. At home this sounded like a wonderful cultural experience, by this time it was more just in the way of us moving on but we boarded with high enough spirits. After 5 minutes on board we had a 7 year old Chinese boy and his mother at our carriage door so that he could practice his school learnt English. We had lengthy and circular conversations about what we like to eat, what our friends are called and ‘what is it?’ without wavering excitement for at least 2 hours. We were shortly running a small creche for shy/excited children with a viewing gallery for parents. When dinner time came we got a break and sat gawping at the amazing mountainside scenery, we felt our decision to make this part of our journey by rail rather than flying was justifiable. 5:30am wasn’t too early for excitement for our favourite hamburger loving friend – ‘do you like hamburger?’ had been asked with the fierce repetition of a hungry goldfish since we set off - two hours later we arrived in Kunming, said goodbye to our new friends and made a dash for the airport.

So that’s it. Thanks for having us China, it’s been The true definition of a love hate relationship and equipped us with the best culture handling skills a traveller could ask for.

Next stop: Laos - 11th - 18th February